How Kyle Clifford's siblings knew about weapons - boast to killer brother and sister's texts

On the fateful day Kyle Clifford murdered his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, and her sister Hannah and mother Carol, his own sister knew he had gone out with a crossbow in hand

Kyle Clifford boasted to his jailed brother that he had a 'proper f****** deadly' knife before he murdered Louise, Hannah and Carol Hunt.

The depraved crossbow killer, 26, has today been jailed for life without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of raping and murdering his ex-girlfriend Louise, 25, and killing her sister Hannah, 28, and their 61-year-old mum Carol. In a final insult to the Hunt family, cowardly Clifford refused to attend the hearing in person.

But brave father and husband John Hunt continued to read his victim statement to the court and addressed "callous, cowardly and vindictive" Clifford. He shared that his words were also directed to the murderer's family, who "will carry guilt forwards with them for the rest of their lives", as he proclaimed they "knew about the weapons".

The court heard that Clifford discussed his purchases of a 10in butcher's knife and a crossbow with his brother, Bradley Clifford, who is currently serving a life sentence for murder. All calls are recorded from prison, and Clifford was heard telling him that he had a "massive Japanese sword thing" and it was "proper f****** deadly man".

His brother asked him if he was "planning on going on a rampage or something," and Clifford said he was not, but that he had nothing else to spend his money on after Louise broke up with him. There was no evidence that Clifford told him what he was planning. As the comments were read out in court, Louise's surviving sister, Amy Hunt, shook her head in disgust.

As well as Clifford's con brother knowing he was in possession of the deadly weapons, his sister Sian was also aware of the dangerous crossbow. On the day of his murderous rampage, Sian messaged Clifford to ask: 'Why are you taking your crossbow out? What are you playing at? It's illegal.' In response, he brushed off her concerns.

'I'm at Zack's. lol [laugh out loud]. Chill. Shooting in back garden. Chill,' he told her. Sian replied: 'Hmm, OK. Well, don't take it out. Put it in the boot.' Clifford then reassured her, saying: 'Yeah. It's wrapped up in the boot. DW [don't worry].' But shortly after, he drove 40 minutes from his house in Enfield to the Hunt family's home in Bushey, where he followed through with his carefully curated and twisted plan to kill the three women.

During the trial, jurors were shown CCTV of Clifford buying a 30metre length of rope for £14.75 at Toolstation. He also bought two rolls of duct tape from B&Q and two petrol cans from Halfords. As part of his horrific murder kit, Clifford bought a crossbow, a pack of six crossbow bolts and a rope cocking device from an archery website.

He viewed Carol's Facebook page while discussing buying a crossbow with his brother searching for air rifles. Clifford also bought an £89 10in butcher's knife and a £244 air pistol. The powerful air pistol was not delivered before the day of the attack and the online seller cancelled the order when they saw news of his rampage.

On the morning of the murders, Clifford, one of four children, went to a garden centre with his family just as if it was any other day. His mother, who was born in Malta, and his retired heating engineer father, were said to be well-liked in the area.

Clifford wrote his family members a suicide note on his phone before the attacks. In a paragraph with the headline, "To myself", he is said to have written: "I don't want to live my life without her, I don't want to experience new things." He added: "I could become a new, better person, I simply don't want to. I'm sorry Kyle."

Clifford was found 36 hours after the killings in a cemetery in Enfield with self-inflicted wounds. He is now paralysed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair.

In court today, John said he wanted to deliver his victim impact statement "eye to eye with Kyle". He said: "When I was first invited to provide a victim impact statement, I initially misunderstood its purpose, do I really need to detail the impact of having three quarters of my family murdered?

"But then I realised that his was my final opportunity to say what I wanted to say, specifically to you, Kyle, words that will also be directed to your family, who will carry guilt forwards with them for the rest of their lives. They knew about the weapons, they knew."

John continued: "I also want to confirm to the world the truth, especially how Louise conducted herself within a textbook mature break-up on her part, understanding the conflict of saying goodbye to someone she once loved, but not allowing those memories to cloud her certain knowledge that you, Kyle, simply failed to be the person she needed. You failed.

"I am so proud of all my girls. Unlike you, Kyle, at every step of their lives, they made the correct choices to improve themselves as people. Louise, she enjoyed more success and fulfilment in one morning than you achieved in your entire miserable life." John went on to say "the screams of hell" would be waiting for Clifford, adding: "They're going to roll the red carpet out for you."